Policy Changes Associated With Increased Access to Child Care Scholarships in Maryland

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) implemented several policy changes to the Child Care Scholarship[1] program aimed at improving access to high-quality child care.

Administrative data analyses explored how the child care supply changed during the time period when these state policy changes were being implemented. We found a significant increase over time in the percentage of providers serving children with a scholarship, corresponding to the period when Maryland eliminated waitlists, increased family income eligibility for scholarships, and raised provider reimbursement rates. Increases in the percentage of providers serving children with scholarships may correspond to the combination of policy changes during this time period and cannot be causally attributed to any policy change. For additional information on methods and findings, please see Appendix 1: 2019 Maryland Child Care Research Partnership (MDCCPRP) Detailed Data Collection & Analysis Methods Summary and the Decline in Family Child Care in Maryland report.

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Footnote

[1] Maryland refers to child care subsidies funded through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) as child care scholarships.